DULUTH, MINNESOTA
Our first night in Duluth was spent at the Pier B Hotel located on Lake Superior. (Notice that I took my photo while taking Phil’s. And Phil’s shirt and socks are not as blue as in the photo……they are really white). Just after the sun had set, the hotel built bonfires near the water and out came the marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate for us to roast smores. We gathered in groups of 6 surrounding the bonfires. It was good conversation and a nice way to end the evening. Then off to bed we went. The next morning would find us driving further north stopping at familiar places along the way as far as up to the Canadian/U.S.A. border. The weather would be sunny and warm. NOTE THE BEARD AND UNDER THAT HAT THERE IS HAIR! PHIL HAS NOT LET ANY OF HIS HAIR GROW FOR SOME 50+ YEARS. WHEN ONE OF MY GRANDSONS SAW HIM, HE IMMEDIATELY SAID, “YOU LOOK LIKE A SCIENTIST!” WITH THAT REACTION, I THINK THE HAIR WILL STAY!! I HAPPEN TO LIKE HIM WITH HAIR A LOT. NOW HE HAS TO GO TO THE BARBER!!
Phil is watching the sailboats from our hotel room as they gather to come through the bridge that lifts as one unit. You know how most lift bridges have two arms that raise to let boats through, but his one is unique as the entire bridge lift goes up. In the photo above, you can see how the bridge lift goes up to let the sailboats move through.
THE NORTH SHORE OF LAKE SUPERIOR IN MINNESOTA
As we continued driving northward along the old scenic highway, we saw these old buildings right on Lake Superior’s edge. They may not be there the next time we travel this way. Nature will claim them one day soon. Wonder what the history is of these buildings.
We drove through Grand Marais on up to Grand Portage, an entrance into Canada. We did not cross the border and there was not much to see in this sleepy place. It is not even really a town….just a small casino, a border crossing and not much more.
Stand up for what you believe, even if your legs are shaky. Being brave and being afraid often occur at the same time.
Our northern Minnesota trip was short….only 2 nights away from our home in Golden Valley. A week or so later, we headed north again to my hometown area. My sister, Katy, traveled with Phil and me to Kelliher, Saum and Shooks. We stayed at the Royal Shooks Motel. Another unique place indeed. Kelliher, Saum, Shooks and Blackduck are about 10+ miles apart. That is just my guess. The reason for our trip north was because we love it up there and there was a party planned for one of my cousins – birthday #80. Phil entertained everyone with his many puzzles and as there were quite a few young people there, it was fun for them and fun for Phil. Here are some photos I took. We visited around with other people we know and had a great time.
SAUM, MINNESOTA
UPPER RED LAKE & SOUTH BATTLE RIVER
Between the South Battle River that ran through our farm and Upper Red Lake, it is hard to know which one we loved best. Both provided us the best entertainment kids could have in those days. We swam and fished in both waters and spent hours wading, exploring, ice skating, climbing trees and the things we kids were fortunate to have in our lives growing up. In our River, there were frogs, toads, minnows, fish, small crabs, clams (not edible), and those icky blood suckers, but despite having to salt those creatures to get them to let loose, the good certainly outweighed the bad. How lucky we were back then and what wonderful memories we have today of those farm days. Today, those memories are often a part of our conversations when we siblings get together.
Our dad’s brother, Florian, lived on the lake so this was a second home for us kids. In the lake, we fished for walleye, northern, sheephead and perch. Fishing was great and the fish frys on the shore were wonderful. That always included stuffing ourselves with fresh walleye and our parents and their siblings singing well into the night. They were a singing bunch with songs like, You Are My Sunshine, The Rose of Tralee, Now is the Hour, and others they sang so often, they almost wore them out. We also seined for minnows in the lake.
We also seined for minnows in the lake. We also seined for minnows in the lake. We had long nets and would make a wide swing with the net and almost always there was a surprise along with the minnows we caught. It might have been a fish. Shinner minnows were silver in color and would flip when brought on shore in the net. It was great fun to see them shining silver in the sun. They were good bait for catching walleyes.
At 288,800 acres, Red Lake is the largest of all inland lakes in Minnesota. It’s also at the center of one of the most tragic fisheries failures, and at the same time, the subject of perhaps the most successful joint recovery effort in fishing history.
The lake is split into upper and lower basins, with all of Lower Red Lake and about 60% of Upper Red Lake under the jurisdiction of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians. The remaining waters fall under state authority. Historically, the lake was a virtual walleye factory, but in the late 1990s overharvest led to a total collapse of the fishery.
An unprecedented cooperative effort between the Band and the state, which included stocking 90,000,000 walleye fry over six years, a seven-year moratorium on walleye fishing, and later on, more restrictive sport and commercial fishing regulations, has led to what all agree is a lake that’s loaded with walleyes.
About 48,000 acres of Upper Red Lake is open to non-tribal sportfishing, and typically carries a slot limit to protect the fishery, so check fishing regulations before you hit the water.
IN THE COLUMN TO THE RIGHT, I AM GIVING YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GREAT WALLEYE FISHING IN UPPER RED LAKE. HAVE FUN.
The caveat is that you must invite me to share in your walleye dinner!!
“The beauty of Red Lake is that it’s easy to fish,” he says. “It’s basically a bowl with a sand/silt/mud bottom, a 15-foot maximum depth, and very little structure. A person doesn’t need sophisticated sonar skills to be successful.”
Open-water fishing begins in mid-May, and through mid-June, fish tend to congregate on the first breakline, which is typically from 3½ to 7 feet deep. “The No. 1 open-water presentation is a jig-and-minnow. Lots of jigs do the job—round balls, stand-ups—but for the past 15 years, a 1/16- to 1/8-ounce Fire-Ball® Jig tipped with a shiner has been the most popular and productive.
“Walleyes on Red are generally willing biters, but if they’re moody, many anglers fish a small jig-and-leech or ‘crawler under a float.”
After mid-June, many fish disperse into the basin, and while many anglers catch plenty of fish from anchored positions, others do better by covering water. Peterson recommends a 3/8- to ½-ounce Rock-Runner® Slip-Bouncer in front of a single-hook spinner, such as a Baitfish Spinner Rig baited with a small minnow.
“I am partial to the Baitfish-Image series, however, plain metallic blades are hard to beat,” he says. “You don’t need a lot of speed—normally about .75 mph. The key is to watch the line and make sure it’s at a 45-degree angle to the water. That will keep the bait in the strike zone.”.
WINTER FISH HOUSES sit on a property near where we fished on Upper Red Lake. They are waiting for the ice to be thick enough for trucks to pull them out on the lake for fishing. This is just a small sampling of the many fish houses on this property. People who love to ice fish pay to have their fish houses stored here for the summer months.
LOSE YOURSELF IN WHAT YOU LOVE. FIND YOURSELF THERE TOO.
A beautiful yellow peony. Seems everyone has one in their garden now. I have heard the blossoms don’t last very long, but the yellow color is spectacular….no doubt. I see a least 5 buds there too.
THE RED LAKE INDIAN CHIPPEWA BAND
The Red Lake Indian Reservation (Ojibwe name: Miskwaagamiiwi-zaaga’iganing) covers 1,260.3 sq mi (3,264 km2; 806,600 acres) in parts of nine counties in northwestern Minnesota, United States.
My sister, Katy, and I had not driven to the Red Lake Indian Reservation since we were young so we decided it was time to do that so off we went. Phil was with us too. The reservation was only some 6 miles from our farm. Growing up, we bought smoked whitefish from the Indians on the reservation. They would have boxes along the road where we could get the fish.
From the photos that I took, you can see a bad storm was brewing when we were driving through the town of Red Lake. I think we even heard tornado warnings. We kept driving and did not hardly see a drop of rain, but sure took some terrific photos.
THE RED LAKE NATION COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS GROUNDED IN THE OJIBWE LANGUAGE AND CULTURE OF THE RED LAKE NATION. WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BUILDING WITH THE EAGLE ACROSS THE FRONT. STUNNING FOR SURE. THE COLLEGE HAS BEEN GRANTED INITIAL ACCREDIATION BY THE AND IS PLANNING ANOTHER FUTURE LOCATION IN MINNEAPOLIS.
THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE IS BOUND BY THE 7 OJIBWE VALUES OF HUMILITY, TRUTH, COURAGE, HONESTY, RESPECT, LOVE AND WISDOM.
CAN WE GET OUR GOVERNMENT TO ADOPT THESE VALUES???? TRUTH WOULD BE A REALLY GREAT PLACE TO START.
St. John’s Episcopal Cemetery in Red Lake, Minnesota
As Katy and I walked through the tall grasses in this cemetery in the town of Red Lake, we found many gravesites marked in different ways….some with headstones and some with very primitive markers. They were scattered here and there amidst the weeds and unmown grasses. There was no definite pattern of grave placements as in most cemeteries.
I was drawn to these three markers I photographed below – two for their simplicity and the one in the middle for its mystery….a Jewish gravestone in an Indian cemetery way up in Northern Minnesota. This is the story as I found it when searching for him on Google. Donald Lussier (Ojiobwe name: Painted Sky) was born in 1984 in Red Lake, MN. He died in 2018 when only 33 years old. He had attended Northwest Technical College for Carpentry and graduated in 2010. He was survived by many family members including 3 daughters. There was no mention of what ended his life here on earth. I tried to find out what the Jewish population would have been when Donald was living there, but I did not find any information.
Below my daughter, Kamee, and I were laughing and having such fun. Kamee and hubby, Jimmy, live in northern Wisconsin and came to the Cities. We had lunch at Pannekoeken in St Louis Park, then we came back to our home, sat outside on this nice day and laughed so hard….so fun.
Kamee works for Voyager Village near their Wisconsin home. She and Jimmy decided that one of them should work so they weren’t together every hour of every day. She is their Accountant and loves her job. She found it in a place where there are not too many jobs.
Here is Kamee’s hubby, Jimmy. They live in Wisconsin. I think I have told you about it in a prior blog. He cooks and fishes in their spring-fed, crystal clear lake and keeps the house in good order. (Maybe I should ask Kamee about that before I put those words in print!!)
My lilies were absolutely beautiful this year. I have rose colored ones, others have white centers with candy pink tips, a few red ones, lemon yellow ones that are quite tall and a couple of orange ones nature designed differently. I am always excited when they bloom….a few bloom earlier than the rest so it is nice to have them for more weeks rather than them all blooming at the same time. You can see some stems where the blossoms have already fallen.
Any photo you would like to see larger you can see by spreading it just like you do on your phone camera.
SUPPORT OUR FARMERS FOR THEY GROW OUR FOOD. AND PROVIDE FOR THE POLINATORS WHO MAKE SURE WE HAVE FOOD. I HOPE OUR GOVERNMENT WILL PREVENT CHINA FROM BUYING UP ANY MORE OF OUR LAND IN AMERICA. BE INFORMED AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN OUR ONCE GREAT COUNTRY. KEEP OUR POLINATORS BUZZING, OUR TRACTORS RUNNING AND OUR AMERICAN FLAG FLYING. GOD BLESS ALL OF US.
ANNE & PHIL